"We need to remind ourselves that law is not merely a means of asserting one’s rights but of performing one’s duties too, that law focuses not only on the individual but on the community, that law is concerned not only with the letter of the law but the principles that lie behind it. People need this broader vision. Law Week should help us achieve it," Judge Christopher Weeramanthry said in his Keynote address at the inauguration of the first ever National Law Week at the BMICH.

"The legal profession is a noble vocation and an instrument of service, not a route to self advancement or the exercise of patronage through the assumption of a false position of superiority." I am sure that the lawyers of Sri Lanka will see themselves in this light and act accordingly" Weeramanthry said.

"National Law Week now made a reality by the Bar Association of Sri Lanka, I had visualised many years ago as being one which was much needed. This is a concept I had spoken of and dreamt of over the years and I am glad that the Bar Association under the Presidency of Nihal Jayamanne has now given it vitality".

"I had long been concerned with the fact that the legal profession tended to be somewhat too remote from the people it serves, not merely in Sri Lanka but throughout the world. Even when I was a Judge in Sri Lanka in the 1960’s and the 1970’s I was deeply concerned with this question and delivered quite a few lectures on the subject."

"At the Seminars of the Law Society as early as 1970 I drew attention to the remoteness of the legal profession from the public and the remoteness of the public from the law and when was on Assizes I gave many talks on this topic to Provincial Bar Associations. The Jaffna Law Library Association published these booklets and distributed them widely and even serialized them in Tamil newspapers both here and in South India including the "Hindu Organ", he said.

Attorney General K. C. Kamalasabeysan in his address said victims of crime have virtually no place in our system and are merely witnesses. It is refreshing to note that today their needs are being addressed and I hope that a witness protection scheme will be put in motion by our legislature. Arbitration and mediation as methods of dispute resolution must be properly and effectively utilised in civil cases and the public must be aware of those factors. Quoting from Lord Denning, he said "There cannot be anything of greater consequence than to keep the streams of justice clear and pure, that parties may proceed with safety both to themselves and their characters." He said there is not one stream of justice. There are many streams. Whatever obstructs their courses or muddies the waters of any of these streams must be eradicated. In that context it is important and necessary for a member of the public to be conscious of the position he holds in relation to a legal regime. National Law Week provides the starting point and an ideal setting for this process. "I hope the Justice and Legal Reforms Minister will carry our message to the august assembly of Parliament and "ensure that the public receives effective and speedy justice."